Patriot Games (1992)

I’ve mentioned Patriot Games quite a few times recently, and it whetted my appetite to re-watch it. Technically some call this a sequel to The Hunt For Red October (1990) following the Jack Ryan character from that film where he is now no longer working for the CIA, but teaching at the United States Naval academy- But with a completely different cast, including Harrison Ford stepping into Alec Baldwin’s shoes as Jack Ryan. I think the fact that Patriot Games spawned a sequel, Clear And Present Danger (1994) and The Hunt For Red October did not, speaks volumes for the two films. Patriot Games is the superior film, and Harrsion Ford is without doubt the quintessential on screen Jack Ryan. After impeding an IRA attack in London and killing one of the terrorists in the process, Ryan appears in court to testify against one of the terrorists, Sean Bean’s Sean Miller. It turns out that the terrorist slain by Ryan was Miller’s younger brother, and during a prisoner transfer shortly after the trial, Miller is broken out of custody by fellow terrorists and swears vengeance on Ryan. Patriot Games is more than a simple cat and mouse thriller though, it picks up on the political citations of Clancy’s novels, and in this case the troubles and strife caused by the IRA mainly across Britain. Richard Harris turns up as a Sinn Fein representative who claims that Miller’s agenda is not one shared by him, but at the same time swears blind he would not sell out a fellow Irishman however mislead he may be. I’ve not read the Clancy novels so I can’t judge how faithful Phillip Noyce’s adaptation is to its source, but he has created a hard-edged thriller, which for my money encapsulates everything great about the Jack Ryan character on screen thus far. Although I certainly feel the need now to go back and watch Clear And Present Danger once again, I wouldn’t disagree that this remains the best Ryan adaptation to date. 7.6/10